docs-desktop/dotnet-desktop-guide/framework/winforms/advanced/how-to-print-in-windows-forms-using-print-preview.md

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title	description	ms.date	dev_langs	helpviewer_keywords	ms.assetid
Print Using Print Preview	Learn how to add print preview services to your application by using the Windows Forms PrintPreviewDialog control.	03/30/2017	csharp vb	printing [Windows Forms], using print preview printing [Windows Forms], with print preview print preview	4a16f7e2-ae10-4485-b0ae-3d558334d0fe

How to: Print in Windows Forms Using Print Preview

It is very common in Windows Forms programming to offer print preview in addition to printing services. An easy way to add print preview services to your application is to use a xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control in combination with the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument.PrintPage event-handling logic for printing a file.

To preview a text document with a PrintPreviewDialog control

1. Add a xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog, xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument, and two strings to your form.

   [!code-csharpSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#1] [!code-vbSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#1]

2. Set the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument.DocumentName%2A property to the document you wish to print, and open and read the document's contents to the string you added previously.

   [!code-csharpSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#2] [!code-vbSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#2]

3. As you would for printing the document, in the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument.PrintPage event handler, use the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs.Graphics%2A property of the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs class and the file contents to calculate lines per page and render the document's contents. After each page is drawn, check to see if it is the last page, and set the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs.HasMorePages%2A property of the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs accordingly. The xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument.PrintPage event is raised until xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs.HasMorePages%2A is false. When the document has finished rendering, reset the string to be rendered. Also, make sure the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument.PrintPage event is associated with its event-handling method.

   Note

   You may have already completed steps 2 and 3 if you have implemented printing in your application.

   In the following code example, the event handler is used to print the "testPage.txt" file in the same font used on the form.

   [!code-csharpSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#3] [!code-vbSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#3]

4. Set the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog.Document%2A property of the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control to the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument component on the form.

   [!code-csharpSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#5] [!code-vbSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#5]

5. Call the xref:System.Windows.Forms.CommonDialog.ShowDialog%2A method on the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control. You would typically call xref:System.Windows.Forms.CommonDialog.ShowDialog%2A from the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Click event-handling method of a button. Calling xref:System.Windows.Forms.CommonDialog.ShowDialog%2A raises the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument.PrintPage event and renders the output to the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control. When the user clicks the print icon on the dialog, the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument.PrintPage event is raised again, sending the output to the printer instead of the preview dialog. This is why the string is reset at the end of the rendering process in step 3.

   The following code example shows the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Click event-handling method for a button on the form. This event-handling method calls the methods to read the document and show the print preview dialog.

   [!code-csharpSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#4] [!code-vbSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#4]

Example

[!code-csharpSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#0] [!code-vbSystem.Drawing.Printing.PrintPreviewExample#0]

Compiling the Code

This example requires:

• References to the System, System.Windows.Forms, System.Drawing assemblies.

See also

• How to: Print a Multi-Page Text File in Windows Forms
• Windows Forms Print Support
• More Secure Printing in Windows Forms